


We've Got Your Back

by AeroWright



Series: We've Got Your Back [1]
Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: 1x01 Tag, Gen, Hurt Clay Spenser, Hurt/Comfort, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26455027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeroWright/pseuds/AeroWright
Summary: What if Clay had been injured on his first mission with Bravo? Tag to 1x01: Tip of the Spear
Series: We've Got Your Back [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123418
Comments: 34
Kudos: 142





	We've Got Your Back

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Note: This is my first completed fanfiction. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Seal Team or any of its characters. Some dialogue is taken directly from 1x01: Tip of the Spear.

Working with Bravo Team had been a dream of Clay’s for as long as he could remember. It was what he poured his heart and soul into training for. So, when Lieutenant Commander Eric Blackburn told him that he was coming with Bravo as a strap to capture Abu Samir Al Masri, well Clay would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited. Sure, growing up in Liberia wasn’t the best most of the time, but boy was he glad he knew the local dialects now.

***

“Clay Spenser, Jason Hayes,” Petty Office Davis said as way of introduction as Jason walked onto the plane. “Meet your strap.”

Jason turned towards Davis giving her an incredulous look in the process. “Seriously?”

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” she replied as she made her way into the plane to do some last-minute checks of the team’s supplies.

To say Jason was furious with the situation was an understatement. Clay Spenser wasn’t ready for Tier-One work. He was just a cocky, arrogant kid getting pulled along by his father’s name. The kid shouldn’t be in the SEALs, let alone Green Team with what his father did. It wasn’t his job to babysit some wet behind the ears kid on a high stakes mission. It didn’t matter the kid supposedly spoke the local dialects. Jason glanced around at the other seasoned members of his team seeing similar looks of discontent and apprehension.

“Isn’t there anyone other than Ash’s kid?” he asked as Blackburn walked past the group to board the plane himself.

“Negative. Spenser here is the most logical choice for this op since he grew up over there and he isn’t a civilian.”

“Might as well be. We all know it’s his daddy’s name and his pretty little face that’s gotten him this far,” Jason said to his team, no one noticing the upset look that crossed Clay’s features before his blank façade was quickly schooled back into place. “Don’t cause trouble and stay out of the way. You listen to every word I say,” Jason continued as he turned back to Clay, the hatred evident in his voice.

“Yes sir, Master Chief,” Clay replied purposely not letting his emotions show through his voice as Jason stormed away, the rest of Bravo quickly following behind. Once Bravo was busy stringing their hammocks, Clay let his blank façade drop again. No matter how he looked at it, Jason’s words hurt. 

If only they knew. Clay thought to himself as he made his way into the plane. Everyone always thought it was Clay’s dad that got him to the top but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The cocky façade he put on was a cover in the hopes that others would leave him alone. And on top of everything, his hopes of getting on Bravo one day seemed to be rapidly running down the drain. It was clear the team already didn’t like him or trust him. Clay knew that if he ever wanted a chance at Bravo, he would have to prove their opinions of him wrong on this mission.

“No mistakes, no screwups,” Clay mumbled under his breath. Maybe someone would finally take him seriously after this spinup, as long as he didn’t die in the process.

***

“You know, we’ve had worse straps,” Ray said as he strung his hammock for the long flight across the ocean.

“Yeah, remember Captain what’s-his-name, froze on a HAHO ramp. At least this kid’s a team guy,” Sonny agreed, trying to make the best of the less than ideal situation.

“Team guy that’s Ash Spenser’s kid. You realize that right?” Jason asked, not understanding how his teammates could possibly see a bright side to this situation.

“We gonna hold it against his cause his dad got PNG’d?” Sonny replied.

“His dad’s only Persona non Grata’ed because he had the bad manners to write a book without being an officer. It’s one mission, Jase,” Ray said jumping back in. Personally, he didn’t have any issues with Clay.  
“Exactly, it’s one mission. The kid better not get a big head because he ran with us once, because it’s never happening again,” Jason said as he climbed into his hammock, effectively cutting the conversation off.

***

Clay glanced down at the street through the camera Bravo had set up in their hiding spot on the balcony the night before. So far everything was going smoothly, and he was hoping it would stay that way. Bravo couldn’t throw him under the bus for mission failure if there was no mission failure.

“Morning cot delivery?” Clay questioned when he saw a truck rolling up on the group he had been watching.

“Possible,” Jason replied, clearly annoyed by Clay’s suggestion. 

Clay, knowing when he was not wanted, leaned back against one of the poles of the balcony. “Look, my uh, my dad’s book. I know a lot of guys have a problem with it-”

“Problem? Yeah that’s an understatement,” Jason said cutting Clay off before he could go any further. “I don’t want to hear any redemption story you might be interested in telling.”

Clay remained quiet, thinking it was better to not say anything than argue. Jason already hated him enough as it was, so he didn’t need to do anything to make that worse. He was brought back from his thoughts as Jason told him to take over watch. Clay moved quickly, not wanting to annoy Jason.

“Stay right there strap, so I can lean back into ya,” Jason said once Clay had taken over watch. No sooner than he had gotten comfortable did Clay interrupt him.

“We got movement.”

***

Clay knew from the moment they found out there was a hostage that something was going to go wrong. Surprises never ended well in their line of work. Clay didn’t miss the look Jason gave him on the helicopter on the way in either. It was obvious to him that if he messed up, Jason would make sure his time in DEVGRU came to an end. He guessed it was only a matter of time. Nobody wanted him for their team anyways. There was no way he was getting drafted despite his skills and abilities. Clay attempted to reign his mind back in on the mission at hand by listening to the calm banter around him. Granted most of it was about him and he knew better than to chime in, but it was something to focus on at least. He couldn’t let this mission fail because he wasn’t focused. When he heard that Chalk-Four was having problems, he knew this was going to be his last mission. It didn’t matter that he had no control over the issue as hand, Bravo team would manage to spin the story somehow. That’s what every other team had done in the past.

***

Jason had to admit that the kid’s language skills were pretty impressive. Switching between languages that quickly, like he did with the guard, wasn’t easy, and he guessed that switching dialects was even harder. Still, Jason didn’t fully trust the kid’s abilities, so when Ray wanted the kid in the tunnels with them, he still had some reservations. “You’re gonna stay here and watch our six,” he said motioning to the entrance of the tunnels. The kid couldn’t get them hurt or screw the mission up if he wasn’t around to do something stupid. “Are we clear?”

“Yeah,” Clay replied, knowing that this was his time to show Bravo what he was capable of. His thoughts about not screwing this mission up continued to plague him as Ray and Jason traveled further into the tunnels.

Not long after the pair had vanished from Clay’s view, he hear what sounded like someone whispering further into the tunnels. Clay debated for a moment before deciding that ‘having their six’ meant investigating the noise. Clay keyed his comm ready to relay his actions to Jason. I might get in less trouble that way.

“Bravo One, come in.” No response. “Bravo One, Sierra Hotel One, do you copy?” Still no response. Clay slowly creeped forward through the tunnel, thinking that they must be too far underground for the comms to get a good signal.

Before he knew what was happening a man was on top of him. Clay felt his attacker’s knife plunge into the back of his shoulder. Ignoring the pain from his now injured arm, Clay let his instincts kick in. Pulling a knife of his own, he quickly dispatched his attacker before slowly lowering his body to the ground so as to not make anymore noise then the scuffle already had. The man’s knife slid to the side before leaving Clay’s shoulder, making him bite is lip to keep from screaming out in pain.

Clay slowly breathed a sigh of relief when the man’s body went fully limp, glad he had remembered what one of his old mentors had hold him- Always bring a knife to a gunfight, Clay. Clay was once again jolted out of his thoughts as he felt the stickiness of blood dripping down his back. He quickly reached into his pants pocket for a bandage and did his best to tie off a wound that he couldn’t see with his good arm. Clay could still feel the blood rolling down his back once he got the bandage secured as best as he could, but it would have to work for now. Clay keyed his comms one last time desperately hoping for a response. “Bravo One, Sierra Hotel One, do you read me?” Silence.

Clay continued slowly moving further into the tunnel knowing that, if comms were down, Jason and Ray would have no way of knowing there were hostiles down here with them.

Clay could hear Jason yelling before he caught up with them. He tightened his grip on his rifle as he turned the corner leading into the room, knowing that the HVT must be close based on Jason’s yells for someone to raise their hands. Clay quickly glanced around the room noting the S-Vest Samir was wearing. Within seconds he pulled the trigger on his rifle and watched as the HVT hit the ground with a bullet hole right between his eyes.

Jason cast a glare towards the strap. He could not believe what he just saw. The arrogant greenie just shot the guy they were instructed to bring in alive. Jason shot a glare of pure hatred and disbelief towards Spenser. Any respect he had gained towards the kid was gone immediately. He had given Spenser a clear order, and he failed to obey it. Jason let out a breath before moving to do identifications on Abu Samir, but not before he shot Clay another glare.

Clay watched as Jason shot a look of utter hatred his way, not understanding what he did wrong. The HVT was wearing an S-Vest. That had to be clean, right? Why should he care? Jason was going to spin the mission anyways to drop the blame on him. It didn’t matter if he saved their lives. Every team used him as their scapegoat.

***

The ride back to base was spent in complete silence. No joking, no banter, no nothing. It was clear to everyone that Jason was furious with Clay, and nobody wanted to get in the middle of that fight. Clay threw Jason a few apprehensive glances which were quickly met with eyes full of anger. Clay could not be more relieved when the bird touched down. He quickly made his way off the chopper, hoping to get as far away from Jason as he could as quickly as he could. Better to face the music later after the Master Chief had hopefully calmed down a bit. Clay knew what happened when team leaders were angry. He became a punching bag for frustrations. That’s how it had always been, why would this time be any different? Besides, he needed to get his shoulder looked at too. Sadly though, it looked as if luck wasn’t on his side, but, then again, when was it ever?

“Listen to me!” Jason growled, grabbing onto Clay by the vest as he walked by, completely oblivious to the wince Clay made as the back of his vest pressed against his stab wound. “I told you to stay out of the tunnel. No?”

“Jase. Jase!” Ray yelled trying to get his friend’s attention before the situation got out of hand. What happened next though was not something Ray ever expected to see from his best friend and teammate. 

Clay wasn’t surprised at all, however, when he ended up on his back on the tarmac after a hard shove from the Master Chief. After all, most team leaders had done much worse. Clay’s face scrunched in pain from taking such a hard hit to his wound. He could feel the wound bleeding again and knew he needed to get medical attention, but he didn’t want Bravo to know he screwed up even more. Clay slowly opened his eyes to see Jason storming off towards the hanger, unsurprising. What did surprise him however was Ray looking down at him, a look of concern evident on this face.

“Are you okay? That was a pretty hard hit you just took,” Ray said as he set the stuff he had been holding down on the ground and helped Clay into a seated position.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Guys have done a lot worse. Besides, I deserved it,” Clay replied, trying to gather his things and leave before Ray figured out he was bleeding.

“First off, no one deserves to be shoved to the ground in anger by a team leader. Second, what do you mean ‘Guys have done a lot worse’?”

“Really its nothing.” Clay quickly rose to his feet.

Realizing Clay clearly didn’t want to talk about it, Ray switched the subject once the young man had gained his feet. “Walk me through it, okay?”

“I caught a dude trying to creep on you guys, and I couldn’t raise you on comms. I figured I needed to clear the rest of that tunnel in case that guy had any friends. I saw Samir was wearing an S-Vest and took the shot. Guess I was wrong.”

“No, man. You did the right thing. I’ll go talk to Jason. Get him to apologize and hear you out.” Ray wrapped his arm around Clay’s shoulders and was surprised to feel a sticky liquid. He pulled his hand back concerned that it came away red. “You’re hurt. Why didn’t you tell anyone man?”

“I didn’t want to give Jason anymore reason to pin mission failure on me. He told me not to cause problems,” Clay said with a shrug of his shoulders, immediately regretting the movement as it sent a wave of pain through his wound.

“One, the mission was not a failure. We got an innocent woman out alive and took out one of the worse terrorists we know about. Two, why would we pin anything on you? You’re just the strap. It’s not your fault things went south,” Ray said as he helped Clay move towards the hanger to get medical attention for his shoulder.

“That’s how it always works. Something goes wrong, blame Clay. Doesn’t matter if it’s my fault of not.”

“We’ll talk more about this later. For now, we’ll get Trent to look at your shoulder, and I’ll go find Jason,” Ray added as he deposited Clay in a chair inside the hanger. “Trent!”

“Please, don’t tell Jason,” Clay said in a whisper as Trent moved towards them.

“I have to Clay. You won’t be punished for getting hurt. I promise,” Ray said in a gentle tone before turning to Trent. “Clay’s shoulder is bleeding pretty badly. Take a look at it will ya?” Ray turned a walked away before Clay could protest anymore.

“What happened man?” Trent asked as he got Clay’s vest and shirt off, leaving him with a good view of the still bleeding wound and the completely soaked gauze bandage.

“Got attacked by a guy in the tunnels. He stabbed me before I could get the upper hand.” Clay winced as Trent started pouring antiseptic on the wound.

“You know you could have told me right? You didn’t have to patch this up by yourself.”

“I didn’t want to be bothersome.”

“Injuries are never bothersome, Clay. Letting them go untreated for this long, however, …” Trent trailed off as he started stitching up the wound.

Clay remained quiet partially because he knew arguing would only lead to more problems but also because he was shocked by the kindness and concern Trent was showing him. No team guy had done that other than Ray a few moments ago. “Why are you doing this? Why are you being kind to me?”

“That’s what brothers do, Clay. You may not be Bravo, but you’re still a SEAL and that means you’re family.”

“Thank you. Nobody has ever done this before.”

“What do you mean?” Trent said as he finished the last of the stitches and taped down a bandage to keep the area clean, concern evident in his voice.

“Treated me with so much kindness. Normally I’m left to fend for myself at best. At worst…” Clay trailed off realizing he had said too much. “Forget what I said.”

“Do you want some pain meds?” Trent asked noticing the way Clay seemed to tense up at his last statement.

“No thanks. I’m guessing all you have is morphine, and I’m allergic to that so...”

“Nope, I’ve got tramadol. Brock has to use it.” Trent quickly prepped a syringe waiting for Clay’s okay before doing anything else.

“I don’t want to take his meds,” Clay said despite the large amount of pain he was in. He couldn’t believe how open he had been with Ray in Trent in the last little bit.

“He won’t mind. Besides, I can grab more from the supply closet here on base.” Trent saw Clay give a small nod and injected the painkillers into Clay’s thigh.

“Thanks again.”

“No problem, man. Here, I’ll help you to the other room so you can set your gear down. Don’t worry about putting it away. I’ll take care of it. I don’t want you doing anything too strenuous for the next few days.” Trent wrapped his arm around Clay’s waist as the pair made their way to the other room. What Clay had alluded to worried Trent. It seemed like his previous teams had been abusing him. At the very least they were neglecting his wellbeing. He decided he was going to have to bring it up with Ray and Jason, maybe even Blackburn.

***

“I told him to stay outside, watch my six,” Jason said angerly as Ray approached him.

“Yeah, I know. But the kid made a call.”

“What kind of call, Ray? Because last I remember I told him to listen to every word I say, and, if I remember correctly, Straps don’t get to make calls.”

“And he’s got a point. If you had just heard him out, you would have realized that.”

“What is there to hear, Ray? He disobeyed a direct order.” Jason angerly tossed his gear on his cot.

“Jase! Would you calm down and listen to me for a second?” 

Taking a deep breath, Jason turned and looked at his much cooler mannered second, knowing he had missed something important. “Alright, tell me what I need to hear?”

“Spenser caught a guy trying to sneak up on us in the tunnels. He got in a fight with the guy and realized that comms were down after he dispatched the threat. He decided to clear the rest of the tunnels to make sure there were no more threats.”

“That still doesn’t explain why he schwacked the HVT we were sent five thousand miles across the world to bring in alive. I had the situation under control.”

“The kid saw a guy in an S-Vest and took the shot. Got him right in the light switch too.”

“Samir’s thumb wasn’t on the detonator. I could have brought him in,” Jason said as he continued stowing his gear.

“You gonna call him out on the AAR, say he got it wrong? That’s gonna follow him Jase. He doesn’t need anymore weight on his shoulders.”

“He can take a hit. Besides his dad’s name will shove it under the rug anyways.”

“He’s already taken two hits on this mission, Jase. One from the guy that stabbed him in the shoulder with a knife and the other by your own hand!”

Jason’s anger quickly dissolved at that statement, replace by concern for the kid’s wellbeing. “Wait, he was injured on the mission? Why didn’t he say anything?”

“Because you told him not to cause problems! He perceived his injury as a problem. He didn’t even want me to bring it up now. He’s terrified that his wound will lead to another mark on his record. Jase, the kid already thought you were going to spin the AAR to put the chopper problems on him.”

“What? I would never punish a guy for getting hurt, and nobody could have predicted those problems.”

“He told me that every other team did that to him. Their philosophy was to have Clay take the fall regardless if it was his fault or not. A lot of guys hate his dad Jase. Seems like they’re taking it out on him. Some worse than others it seems.”

“What do you mean by that?” Jason was starting to feel like a real jerk. Obviously, Spenser’s career had not been as smooth of sailing as he thought.

Ray chewed on his lip for a moment before replying, “He alluded that other team leaders liked to take their anger out on him physically. In fact, he was expecting you to do the same.”

Jason blew out another breath. “I really screwed up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah you did. You own the kid an apology.” Ray motioned to where Trent and Clay had made their way into the room.

“You’re right. I’ll head over to talk to him right now,” Jason replied already moving towards where Spenser sat shirtless and partially hunched over on a cot, a white bandage wrapped around his shoulder. Before he could make it very far, however, Trent grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side.

“Don’t be too hard on the kid, Jase. It seems like he’s not used to having someone to treat his injuries,” Trent said with a quick look over his shoulder back at Clay.

“Excuse me?” Jason was feeling worse and worse about of his treatment of the kid as more time went on.

“He told me that he didn’t want to bother anyone with his injuries. He said most teams left him to patch up his own wounds,” Trent replied, concern evident on his face. “He asked me why I was being so kind to him, Jason.”

What Trent had just told him shattered Jason’s heart. Nobody should have had to do the things it seemed this kid had had to do. The teams were a brotherhood, but it was obvious that most of the guys didn’t believe Clay was a part of that mantra. “Okay. I’ll go easy on him. I was on my way to talk to him just now.” Jason turned to head back towards Clay, but Trent once again grabbed his attention.

“Jase, I think Clay’s former teams abused him,” Trent said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Ray had the same thought,” Jason reluctantly said with a minute nod of his head before once again heading in the kid’s direction as Blackburn walked into the room. He was really starting to get fed up with all these interruptions.

“Great op gents. Outstanding really. Most of the AAR is obviously going to be about the chopper problems. Comm failure we know about. Intel turned out to be solid. Eight enemy KIAs, including one HVT wearing an S-Vest. All clean correct?”

Jason chanced a quick glance to the side to see Clay looking up at him with obvious fear. “Roger. Eight clean kills, sir.” The relief that Jason saw wash over Clay’s features only served to confirm what Ray had told him. Clay had fully expected him to pin the HVT’s death on him.

“Good work gents,” Blackburn said with a curt nod of his head as he exited the room.

***

Clay didn’t believe the words that had just come out of Jason’s mouth. Jason didn’t pin Samir’s death on him. He might not be kicked out of Green Team after all. Clay’s relief was short lived, however, as Jason made his way over to him. His body went tense as Jason sat down on the bunk beside him.

“Hey man, can we talk?” Jason said as he sat down on the bunk beside Clay. The tension he could feel radiating off the kid was the final piece he needed to confirm that Clay was indeed scared of him. Obviously, his team leaders in the past must have been physical with him a lot.

“Of course,” Clay replied trying to keep the wobble out of his voice.

“I owe you an apology son…”

“That’s really not necessary, sir,” Clay said, immediately going silent once he realized his mistake. “I’m sorry for interrupting, sir.”

“Clay, it is necessary. I physically harmed you. That never should have happened. I lost control of my emotions, and, for that, I am truly sorry. In fact, I’m sorry for how I have treated you this whole mission. I let my views of you dad and other personal issues cloud my judgement, rather than seeing you for the proud, capable SEAL you are. Those language skills out there were quite impressive. Not to mention your rifle skills too.”

Clay didn’t know what to say. No team leader had ever apologized for hurting him before, let alone comment on his skills. Clay responded once his mind caught back up, hoping it hadn’t taken too long. “Thank you, sir.”

“Of course. I should have taken notice of them sooner. I do need to ask you something Clay.” Clay locked eyes with him, hesitation clearly evident in his stare. “Are you scared that I’m going to physically assault you again?” The several seconds of silence and Clay’s sudden lack of eye contact gave Jason his answer. “Clay, have other teams abused you in the past?” Clay continued to remain silent. Jason let out a breath before continuing, “Regardless, I want you to know that I will never strike you again. It was completely wrong of me. You should never be expecting another brother to hit you. I want you to know that, and I want you to know that you can come to me at anytime if you need help. Okay?” 

Clay gave a small nod and managed to stumble out a thank you, trying had not to cry. “I appreciate it, sir.”

“You can call me Jason,” Jason said as he stood up from the bunk. “This doesn’t mean anything as far as your selection. You still need to earn a spot if you want to be on Bravo full time.”

“Of course, sir- I mean Jason,” Clay said with a visible spark in his eyes once more.

Jason turned to walk away, feeling much more satisfied with the relationship he had with Clay but also concerned by what he had learned. Jason was going to have to bring up the situation with Blackburn, but if the kid wasn’t willing to come forward then there wasn’t much he could do except be there for him when he needed it. Jason was serious though when he said Clay would have to earn his shot on the team. He needed the kid to regain confidence in himself and making him earn his place seemed like the best way to do it. “Clay,” Jason turned around locking eyes with Clay once more, “remember that Bravo will always have your back.” With those final words, Jason walked away to start loading his gear onto the plane for the flight home.

Clay was utterly shocked by Jason’s words. He hadn’t had anyone in his corner since he joined the Navy several years back, well besides Brian that is. It felt good to have someone to turn to, but Clay was still hesitant as to the sincerity of Jason’s words. Regardless, it seemed as though things might be looking up for him. At least he still had his chance at Bravo after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
